Advanced Materials

Overview

Advanced materials extend basic material behavior with effects such as coatings, light transmission, strong reflections, and stylized shading. Use them only when MeshStandardMaterial cannot produce the required visual result.

Location: Material Editor → Properties → Type

When to use advanced materials

Use an advanced material when at least one of the following is required:

Light must pass through the surface (glass, clear plastic)
A glossy top layer is needed (clearcoat, varnish)
Strong reflections are required (mirror, reflective floor)
Stylized, lighting-independent shading is needed (MatCap)
A shadow-catcher plane is required

Always start with basic materials. Switch to advanced materials only when there is a clear visual need.

Material setup workflow

Open the Material Editor

You can access a Material Editor in three supported ways:

Assets

Open Assets → Materials
Select the material you want to edit

3D Editor

Open 3D Editor
Click the mesh in the viewport
Open Materials and click Edit (pencil)

The Material Editor opens in a new browser tab.

Edit directly in the scene (quick edits)

Open 3D Editor
Click the mesh in the viewport
In Materials, tweak the material properties right in the panel
Click Save

If you open the full Material Editor (via Assets or Edit), it opens in a new browser tab. Scene edits saved with Save also update the same material and appear in the Material Editor.

Choose the material type

Open Properties → Type
Select the required advanced material type

Supported advanced material types

MeshPhysicalMaterial

Use this type for layered and physically based materials such as coated paint, fabric with sheen, and transmissive glass or plastic.

Setup order:

Set Metalness
Set Roughness
Set Color

Keep the base stable before enabling additional effects.

Clearcoat (glossy top layer):

Increase Clearcoat
Adjust Clearcoat Roughness

Clearcoat affects highlights without changing the base color.

Sheen (fabric highlights):

Increase Sheen
Adjust Sheen Roughness
Set Sheen Color

Transmission (glass / clear plastic):

Increase Transmission
Set Thickness
Adjust ior

Transmission controls how light passes through the surface. ior and Thickness define refraction strength.

Optional effects:

Iridescence — subtle optical color shift (use small values)

Classic transparency (rare):

Enable Transparent
Adjust Opacity

MeshReflectorMaterial

Use this type for mirrors and reflective floors or panels. This material is performance-heavy.

Setup order:

Set Base Color
Set Resolution (start low)
Adjust **Mix Strength **(controls the blur)

Optional controls:

Mix Blur, Blur X, Blur Y — soften reflections
Depth Scale, Min Depth Threshold, Max Depth Threshold — depth-based fade
Distortion — reflection warping

MeshRefractionMaterial

Use this type for controlled refraction and chromatic effects. This material is performance-heavy.

Setup order:

Set ior
Set Fresnel

Optional effects:

Aberration Strength — chromatic distortion
Fast Chroma — faster but less accurate chroma

Keep Bounces low to maintain performance.

MeshMatCapMaterial

Use this type for stylized shading that does not depend on scene lighting.

Set Color
Adjust Opacity if needed
Set Side (usually Front)

Here’s an example of a MatCap material. It has baked lighting that could enhance your products surface.

MeshShadowMaterial

Use this type for a shadow-catcher plane for a cast shadow.

Keep Transparent enabled
Adjust Opacity to control shadow strength

You can additionally fine-tune final look in a Shadows tab of a 3D Editor:

Practical rules

Prefer MeshPhysicalMaterial for clearcoat, sheen, transmission, and ior
Use MeshReflectorMaterial and MeshRefractionMaterial sparingly
Avoid stacking multiple heavy effects in one material

After every meaningful change:

Check the material under the real environment and lighting
Switch PCOs quickly and look for flicker or incorrect states
Test on mobile and low-end devices for performance